


The President's Son (The First One, Anyways)

by Bam4Me



Series: The Crossover That Made Your Brain Hurt [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Stargate - All Series, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: AU, And also fucks a wraith, Brain Damage at one point, But not through conception, Crossover, First of a series, Gen, Hurt John, M/M, Missy and the Doctor have kids, Missy stole his DNA ran away and had five kids without telling him, More info inside notes if you wanna know more, Radek is sort of aromantic, Seriously he gets hurt like five times, Todd and John are soulmates, Wraith aren't all that good, but John loves him anyways, but theyre not the villains in this, in two days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 12:14:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8624086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bam4Me/pseuds/Bam4Me
Summary: John Sheppard - Colonel in the United States Air Force, four hundred and ninety three years old, slightly estranged from his father -who was a bit upset at his son going into the military of all things- and very, very dedicated to the city Atlantis.And apparently, -and trust me, he TRIED not to let it happen- VERY in love with a wraith.He can feel the way the humans stare at him. He thinks some of them even pity him.He pities humans, because they can only see the beauty in their own species.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [princelokiofasgard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/princelokiofasgard/gifts).



> Okay, so, basic outline for this crossover: INSTEAD of becoming the master of death and giving the Doctor an army of cybermen, Missy gave him five children. She stole his DNA and had five babies.
> 
> The Doctor LOVES it. 12 LOVES babies, they're adorable (he didn't know about them till 12 either, because reasons) and they're cute, and he has FIVE of them, and he's a happy daddy.
> 
> The children (and btw, these will MOSTLY be individual stories, so you really don't have to worry TOO much about crossover, if you don't like a fandom, you can most likely skip that fic and things will still make sense, also, IDK how to explain it yet, but I'm gonna have all the series separated for the most part) are (in order of age): Lily Evans (Harry Potter), John Sheppard (Stargate Atlantis), Kate Hummel (Glee), Claudia Stilinski (Teen Wolf), -her and Kate are twins, both of them survive in their series, though one of them regenerates into a boy- and Neal Caffrey (White Collar).
> 
> These fics are VERY VERY VERY poly ship friendly, so either like that, or leave.
> 
> This fic is set at the end of the first season, but it actually happens here, a YEAR LATER than in the show (aka, they've been on Atlantis for two years now, but season one finale happens a year later.)
> 
> I TRIED to make it Todd/John/Radek but like, Radek was all, 'relationships... are gross' and I was like, *five minute groaning session* so that's that.
> 
> If you wanna ask anything about the OTHER fics in this series, I'm all for that, I'll answer basically anything you wanna, I've literally been thinking about this series for at least three years now and only got around to posting it because the LOVELY princelokiofasgard loves it and decided to talk to me about it (seriously, if you guys want me to write shit so bad, TALK TO ME ABOUT IT cause otherwise I literally got better shit to do.) Either way, she like, bae, go love.
> 
> gatersgonewild.tumblr.com

When John Sheppard was first introduced to the stargate program, he had to physically bite into his lower lip to keep himself from giggling like a fucking two year old. He had to use all his self respect as an adult to keep himself from calling up his mother as soon as he left the compound so he could cackle about it with her like an excited school girl. John Sheppard doesn’t have much self respect in the first place, it’s an incredibly close call.

 

He couldn’t wait to see the horrified look on his father’s face when he found his own son working for the people that had hooked up a stargate just to see what it’d do without actually knowing what was out there.

 

The SGC has caused  _ so _ many problems for him over the years. Of course, he also liked them in parts, but it’s like the frustrated love you feel for your cat when it brings you a dead bird and expects you to be happy about it. You have to be proud of them, they’re just trying to feed you, but at what cost.

 

Of course, he always talked about Doctor Jackson when he mentioned the SGC, and John had a suspicion that he really wanted to take the man on as a companion, but General O’Neill wouldn’t let Daniel run off without him.

 

After watching the two of them speak with each other today, John was starting to think they might be a little bit married.

 

John looked at O’Neill out of the corner of his eye as the man got into the helicopter next to him, and put on his headset with a huff.

 

“You told her no.”

 

John felt his lip twitch a little bit, but ignored it, focusing on his pre-flight checks instead. “Yes. I’ve always thought space to be a little boring, don’t you think? My dad always said this planet had more to offer him than all the stars could some days.”

 

John swears he could see a vein throbbing in Jack’s forehead, and decided to tone it back a bit before the general actually took a swing at him.

 

Jack sighed. “Alright, I’m going to be as sus- wait, are you laughing?”

 

John bit his lip a little, “No?”

 

Jack rolled his eyes, “Are you bullshitting me right now?”

 

John shrugged, “Well, she was being pushy. I thought if I said yes right then, she’d want to talk to me about it.”

 

Jack actually looked a little cross at that. “This isn’t exactly a job you can take lightly. This is space, not another continent. But I will say one thing; I think anyone who doesn’t want to be in the SGC is crazy, and if you don’t want it, I don’t want you. I’ve made this my job for the last ten years, and I expect to keep at it till I die. I’m not interested in anyone who’s not going where I am.”

 

John turned to look the general in the eye for a second when they were stable in the air, before turning back to the front. “General, you don’t have anything to worry about from me. I want this. Space is the final frontier.”

 

***

 

When John first stepped through the gate, he didn’t know what he was expecting.

 

When he first met the Athosians, the first alien species he’s ever met without one of his parents around, he didn’t know what he was expecting.

 

When he first met the wraith, a species who apparently  _ fed _ on other sentient life forms, he was crushed.

 

For the first time in his life, while out in the stars away from the planet he’s come to call home, John realized, he honestly doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s not the Doctor. He’s not even the Mistress, no matter how much he’s been told he acts just like her. At least, her good traits, no matter how few they were.

 

For the first time in his life, Space no longer seems like an amazing place of wonder and cheer, it seems like a threatening place where all his hopes are slowly being crushed into a little ball of upset. He doesn’t know why his father keeps exploring.

 

There must be something out here worth looking for, right?

 

But what John  _ really _ wasn’t expecting, was to find out that everything he knew, and everything he’s learning, about the people who created this  _ amazing _ city, the city that could speak in his mind as clearly as any telepath he’s ever met, the people who fought a war against the wraith, everything he knew about them, is complete, and utter, bullshit.

 

The part that hurt the most, is that he was the only one that could see it.

 

At first.

 

***

 

When John and Todd first met, it was in a Genii cell.

 

John tried straining against the ropes on his wrists and chest, feeling pissed with himself.

 

He was in another galaxy from the one he’d been born to, away from the planet he and his father had called home, from the one his mother had loved terrorizing so much, discovering new worlds, and trying to make friends with them where he could. 

 

And yet… he’d never been so disgusted with himself.

 

He was born of two time lords to the planet Earth; one of whom pretended to be God for the better part of all of human history, and another who played God with everyone else in his life in a hope to save them all. 

 

And here he was; weak, and pathetic, unable to get out of a chair, tied with some ropes.

 

These were the moments where he regretted just about every decision that had lead him to now.

 

Including; getting out of bed that morning.

 

This was exactly why he had never gotten along with his father. The Doctor was a strong man, and it’d take nothing but his death to stop him, and John already felt beaten down before he even knew he’d lost.

 

He could hear them opening the door behind them and strained to look back at it. He found his looking right at a wraith.

 

“If you do not comply with our demands, Major Sheppard will be fed on.”

 

The wraith was giving him this  _ look _ , and John felt his stomach drop, his heart rate doubling, which made it feel a little like he was getting the hiccups, because when  _ both _ hearts start freaking out, that’s a little intense. He knew though, it was obvious, with the way the wraith was looking at him, sniffing the air between them, he knew.

 

John wasn’t sure what species the wraith thought he was, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out, but he did know, that the wraith hesitated, a lot longer than a starving wraith should hesitate, before feeding on him.

 

This just sucks.

 

When John was down in the cells after this, he was a lot more surprised than he should have been, to find the wraith in the cell next to him.

 

And even more than that, he was doubly as surprised to find that apparently, he was more like his father, than he thought he was, because he felt a pang in his chest for him, a deep seated need to let him out of his cage. He didn’t think that anyone needed to live in a cage.

 

***

 

“You are J _ ohn _ Shepp _ a _ rd of the Tau’ri.”

 

John gave a little wince, feeling like absolute shit right now. His body was healing fast. Too fast. By the time they came down to get him out of the cells again, he’d look exactly as he had before. They needed to find a way out before then.

 

They… he really shouldn’t be doing this, but he feels enough like shit right now, that he might need help.

 

He got up and walked over to the window they were talking through. “How strong are you right now?”

 

The wraith looked a little taken back by the question, and John had the oddest feeling that he was the ‘ramble on till someone gets bored and stops listening’ type. He knew, because both his dad and Rodney were the same way.

 

It shouldn’t have enamoured him to the wraith the way it did.

 

It was dark down here, and he could barely see the look of surprise and a little distaste on his face as he looked at his surroundings. When he looked back at John, he gave what looked like a sneer, but John decided then and there, to stop taking him at face value. He’s met hundreds of species in his life that do things so differently that they might insult you without realizing. The wraith could very well be smiling at him.

 

“With the help of a T _ ime _ Lor _ d _ , I could get us out of here.”

 

John felt a few pins of emotion in his eyes, and he resisted the urge to rub it away, breath coming out shaky and a little like a sigh. It’s been years since he had someone else remind him that he’s not human.

 

His eyes fluttered a little bit, and he opened them back up to see the wraith standing there, looking at him with piercing yellow eyes.

 

“How much more do you need?”

 

The wraith studied him for a few more moments, and finally, his raspy voice spoke again. “I say with truth, I would not feed on you, had I the choice.”

 

John swallowed hard. “You… you remember Time Lords? We haven’t been in this galaxy in…”

 

“Since before the ancients came and ruined us.”

 

John’s eyes went wide. “Ruined you? What was it like before they came?”

 

The wraith gave him a considering look. “You are so young.”

 

John nodded, “I have not lived long. Only a few centuries to my name.”

 

“You are already healing.”

 

“Yes. I am.”

 

“Has no one told you of how life was here, before they came and took it away?”

 

John shook his head again. “Did you feed on life before?”

 

It suddenly hit John, that wraith did not have the ability to time travel. He was old. “You’re over ten thousand years old.”

 

The wraith’s eyes got wider and smaller for a moment, and John wondered if that was the same as a nod.

 

“I am nearly as old as your father.”

 

John’s head snapped up, and his breathing got a little louder. “How do you know who he is?”

 

“You taste of his kin. Everything I took from him, was given back.”

 

“You… you can do that? You can give back?”

 

The wraith’s eyes looked so old and sorrowful. John knew that look, he saw it nearly every time he looked at his own father, and now he’s fucked, because all he knows is that he wants this wraith out of his cell. He didn’t deserve to be there.

 

“That was once our gift to the universe, to give. Now all we have is taking.”

 

John nodded to himself. A human couldn’t survive this, most likely, but he could. “Alright, take what you need. I don’t expect anything back, just don’t kill me.”

 

The wraith nodded back at him, and John wondered if that was a universal, or learned thing, but it seemed to seal the deal.

 

No going back.

 

***

 

John felt like an old man, following the wraith out of the complex. The wraith had taken the same amount that he had the first time, and the guards hadn’t noticed anything wrong with him when they came back to take him and the other creature out.

 

John was going to heal a lot faster this time than the time before, no longer on a camera, so no need to hold back the healing process. He just hoped his friends would believe the wraith had given back to him after getting them out of the complex.

 

John was entirely unsure if this scar would heal. He doesn’t think it will, because he could feel scar tissue building up over the open wound in his chest, trying to knit the skin together too fast.

 

He’s going to have a reminder of this.

 

“So, you got a name?”

 

The wraith turned in the dense forest, and John vaguely wondered if he knew where he was going. He sure seemed stronger, having recently fed on more than a few of those guards.

 

He wondered if the radiation poisoning made them taste like spoiled meat. To a starving man, it probably tasted like salvation.

 

He wondered if he could become a vegetarian.

 

“The only way I could tell you, is through your mind. You are young, your mind would not-”

 

“Time Lord, remember? My race has been bred for telepathy, among other things. Try me.”

 

The wraith stopped, giving him a look like he was questioning John’s sanity right now. John agrees with him a little, but only because he felt a bit like he was dying right now, though he knew he wasn’t. He was healing, slowly.

 

The wraith reached out a hand towards him, and though John flinched, he didn’t pull away, letting the wraith pull him in with a hand at the back of his head. The wraith was so much bigger than him, bigger than a human for sure, but Time Lords were never all that big themselves, up against this, he felt dwarfed. 

 

The wraith’s forehead didn’t connect with his painfully, like one might expect, but so gentle, like he was honestly afraid of hurting him. John’s eyes were wide, firmly fixed on his, before he realized nothing would come to him at such a gentle connection, unless he tried to find it.

 

His eyes shut a little tight, and it took him a moment to get anything out of him, before pulling back with a gasp.

 

Gallifreyans may be bred for telepathy, but it never came to them easily like it did wraith. John’s a little worried it might have gotten too much out of him, and he’s fairly confused by a lot of what he’s seen. He mentally tried to sort it all into a box for later viewing. Maybe he could figure out what the ancients had ruined for them before.

 

He felt old, and his heart was beating a little too fast, and he was dizzy, but he started after the wraith again when he started walking, not wanting to stay in one place for too long.

 

“Todd.”

 

The wraith looked back at him with wide eyes. “I… believe that is incorrect.”

 

John shook his head, “No, that’s all my lyrinx can say. There are too many syllables, they’re all too fast and long, I couldn’t say your real name. Todd is all I can come up with that’s close.”

 

The wraith gave him a long look before starting off towards the gate again. “It will work.”

 

***

 

Todd didn’t lie to him, and he didn’t kill him.

 

He also went a step further than John had asked him to, and he had given everything back in the end.

 

“I told you, you didn’t have to-”

 

“It is a gift, John Sheppard. The Time Lords will come back to us, and with them, the end of the war, but that is a gift to you. It is only given to our hive and most devout worshippers, though, it used to be given freely to all.”

 

John felt young, and strong again. But that didn’t stop him from jumping when he watched Todd go down under a stunner. He turned around, his own gun in hand, and found the rest of his teaming coming for them. “No, don’t shoot!”

 

Out of the year he’s been in this galaxy, he never thought he’d say that, in reference to a  _ wraith _ , but he did, and he meant it.

 

He was entirely fucked.

 

***

 

“I can’t believe it, you look even younger than before, only you could make friends with a wraith.”

 

John sighed. Actually, he  _ did _ feel younger than before. He hasn’t felt this spry since he was in his mid two hundreds. Rodney might be right. “Alright, do we have a jumper or not? We need to get Todd somewhere the Genii won’t find him, and then back to Atlantis.”

 

Ronon was giving him a look like he thought John was crazy. John’s gotten that look more than a few times today. Rodney was downright sputtering. “You want him  _ safe _ from the Genii?”

 

John let out an annoyed sigh. Christ, sometimes, all humans were the same; blood hungry, and annoying. “Did I  _ stutter _ ? Yes, he’s the only damn reason I’m alive right now-”

 

“He  _ fed _ on you!”

 

John nodded, “Yes, he did. I’m not saying otherwise, but I told him he could, because I knew it was the only way out of there alive. I never said he had to give it back, but he did anyways. That counts as ‘good’ in my books.”

 

The group was silent for a few moments, several marines standing watch in a circle around them while they listened to AR1 argue. Rodney and Ronon looked shocked, and Teyla, -always his favorite when it came to things like this, because she was the only one of them that understood without needing it laid out for her- was quite, sympathetic. She didn’t look down at the wraith like he was scum, and John could tell that Ronon was still a little trigger happy. He stepped once to the left, the movement easy with his natural sway, but obviously a clear hint, when he ended up directly between Ronon and Todd; back off.

 

“You would rather be fed on-”

 

“Than tortured? Than give away the location of my city? Than die in a prison cell, knowing that my image is being used to completely ruin my best friends with guilt? Yeah.” John took in another breath, closing his eyes for a moment to pull himself together. He felt raw inside, and their words hurt more than he was willing to admit. “Can we just go now?”

 

He was more than ready to go back home.

 

***

 

When they dropped Todd off on a safe planet, John insisted on staying with him outside of the jumper until he regained consciousness. Why?

 

Because… he’s fed on his father before, and gave everything back. He’s fed on John, and gave more than he took back. He hesitated to take anything at all from him, a starving man, and he still hesitated to eat, because of what John was.

 

His mind… was like… well, it was different from that of a time lord, that’s all John could say for sure, but he wouldn’t hesitate to get that feeling again if he could. It reminded him of better days, when meeting new species was something that didn’t give him apprehension and fear for his own life.

 

It reminded him of being back with his father, safe, because how could you not be, in the TARDIS.

 

When Todd came to, he was up almost right away, looking at him in surprise. “You’ve not killed me.”

 

John shook his head. “You didn’t kill me.”

 

“I would never.”

 

It made John swallow, wondering how this creature could have so much faith in him. He brought a hand up to his chest, feeling the slowly healing scar there, and Todd’s sharp eyes followed his hand, getting an almost possessive growl in his throat.

 

This… is not the first time someone other than a human gave him that look, and John was no stranger to accepting a little fun. Christ, he’s supposed to be afraid of this guy, well, he wasn’t.

 

He knew, that Todd knew, that if they were alone right now… well...

 

He stood up a little straighter, suddenly aware that the men in the jumper where most likely watching him, and they knew how to read body language. He wasn’t exactly shaking in his boots in front of this guy.

 

“Well, the next time we meet, all bets are off.”

 

Todd stepped a little closer, getting into his space in a way that made John’s own eyes go a little wide. “Are they?”

 

John was silent for a few more seconds than he should have been, and he could already feel the judgmental stares from his men in the jumper. Well, there goes his reputation as a hardass. Atlantis’s commander, stuttering because a wraith propositioned him. “I-I, of course.”

 

Todd raised a hairless eyebrow. “Of course.”

 

When John got back in the jumper, he could  _ feel _ them all staring, but when he looked up, they all found something else to stare at. “Let’s just get back to Atlantis.”

 

Lorne nodded, starting up the jumper again without another word. Good.

 

He’s never felt more alien, than when faced with humans, who couldn’t see the beauty in other races than the ones that look like them. It was a little bit disgusting.

 

***

 

It was hard to go back to his work. Well, first of all, he had to hack into the infirmary system and change his damn MRI so he looked like a regular human with only one heart, but that had been more annoying than anything.

 

But no, he could handle that, he’s been falsifying records since he joined the armed forces in the first place, he can handle that. What’s  _ really _ hard, is the looks.

 

First, there was the big pink scar on his chest that no one but Carson -who seems to have the world’s greatest bedside manner ever, and John was pretty sure he wouldn’t know how to be prejudiced if he tried- could stop looking at it if it was out. It was like a bright beacon.

 

Even when John thought he was forgetting about what put it there, he’d take off his shirt in the morning to change, and it would be there.

 

It wasn’t ugly, -scars aren’t  _ ugly _ they’re just  _ there _ \- but it was like a reminder, that nothing was the same. He’s crossed a line, and he doesn’t know how to go back, and he’s not even fully sure what that line means.

 

There were also the looks he was getting from Ronon and Rodney. Those were more annoying than anything. John had the feeling that they were judging him. But, what for? Were they calling him weak, to have the gall to have  _ feelings _ for the enemy? Did they think he’d been brainwashed? Anything’s possible there, but he wanted to throw something at them.

 

He’s not been taken over, he’s simply gotten a harsh hit of reality.

 

Could the time lords bring peace back to their galaxy? Should he be contacting one of his parent’s right now to help him?

 

He feels a little guilty that he hasn’t done so yet.

 

***

 

“Oh, come on, Meredith isn’t that bad of a name.”

 

Rodney snorted, leaning back against a random log; for the first time since they all got to this planet, no longer glued to his tablet.

 

They were on a scouting mission, looking for a good place to mine right now, which meant that they had Lorne’s team with them right now as well, since he was the only one there with experience on naquada mines back in the Milky Way. If they wanted to defeat the wraith, they needed a little more ‘umpth’ to their weapons.

 

Evan’s team was looking at him like he was playing with fire, and he might be a little bit, but that’s okay. After Rodney’s eaten is the best time to mess with him. He was least likely to bite then.

 

“Says Mister John Smith, from the land of the most boring white man names ever.”

 

John couldn’t hold back the laugh at that one, honestly amused. “You know, my mama only named me that, because she knew it would genuinely annoy my father.”

 

Rodney looked a little amused at that. “Your father is annoyed, that you have a  _ boring _ name?”

 

“Oh yeah.”

 

“Sounds like a great guy. What would he have named you?”

 

“I’ve no idea, but anything is probably better than what I got.”

 

“Than John?”

 

John turned a little pink in the face, something that caught the attention of everyone around the fire. He probably wasn’t going to live this one down. “No, than my middle name. You think Meredith is bad, I got stuck with ‘Sunshine.’”

 

It took Rodney more than a few minutes to calm down from his laughing fit, and John could see the rest of the marines snickering. Ronon looked amused, but Teyla just looked fond, like she liked the name. She would get along amazingly with the Mistress. “Okay, laugh it up, my parents are genuine hippies, free love and all that, I’m just thankful they stuck that in the middle name box on my birth certificate.”

 

Rodney snorted again, looking like John just made his week. “I will,  _ never _ call you John again, as far as I’m concerned, your name is Sunshine.”

 

John glared a little. “I will call you Meredith,” he warned.

 

“Worth it.”

 

***

 

John could not believe this.

 

Okay, the Tau’ri are a lot of things. Bigots, is one of the best thing to call them, but warriors and young also come to mind when John thinks of them.

 

But this, this was quite possibly, the most  _ ignorant _ meeting he has ever been to in his life.

 

He seriously thinks he just rolled his eyes so hard it sort of hurt. When he opened them up again, thankfully, the other arguing idiots in the room weren’t paying attention to him. He looked over at the science side of the room, where Rodney was silently fuming about something. John had the feeling that his team wasn’t in favor of even having an argument about this at all, it was so fucking stupid.

 

Radek was looking back at him, and John felt something soften inside his chest when he realized that Radek was entirely uncomfortable with the others arguing over this as well. Well, everyone in the room with a brain seemed pissed they were even having this conversation at all. Good.

 

Rodney was sitting on one side of John, and there was Bates on his other. John was about to deck one of them, and he was  _ really _ leaning towards Bates, who sounded like the biggest bigot in the room right now - and always.

 

“John, you’ve been quiet, I’m sure you have an opinion on this matter?”

 

John gave Elizabeth an almost ornery look. “I think this is the most bigoted meeting I have ever been in in my life, and you should be ashamed of your species right now, because this is a  _ very _ accurate representation of human beings.”

 

Elizabeth’s eyes went wide, but John could see something suddenly click in her eyes, as if that had been the perfect boot to the ass she needed. “He’s right. We can’t even afford to be arguing over this right now, who are we to judge how other people live their lives, when we’re trying to trade for supplies to live ourselves.”

 

Most of the others in the room, where all looking at him in shock, and John couldn’t keep the sneer off his face. “What is wrong with you all? You have all been chosen to go to another galaxy, to represent the  _ entirety _ of the Tau’ri people, to show the best that there is of Earth to people who might never meet another of our kind again, and you’re fighting over whether or not we should trade with a people, because they’re a  _ polyamorous _ society? I want to say that I’m surprised, but really, I’m not. As if we even have a choice, if we don’t trade with them, there goes our own city, because we won’t have food to give them, and we have no one to blame for ourselves starving, but us.”

 

Most of the people in the room shut up at that, but Bates looked like he wanted to argue again.

 

There was a reason that John wanted to replace him with Lorne so much. He  _ really _ didn’t like this man, and he was pretty sure that Bates knew it too.

 

John looked around the room when everyone was silent for a minute. “Any arguments?”

 

As expected, Bates was the only one to speak up. “It’s immoral. We shouldn’t be associated with them.”

 

John rolled his eyes, “Any  _ smart _ arguments?”

 

Bates looked downright offended, and he’s pretty sure the rest of the people in the room probably thought he had a death wish. Bates spoke up again anyways. “It’s wrong. Everyone knows that polygamy ruins people.”

 

John snorted. “ _ First _ off, it’s poly _ amoury _ , latin meaning; that they fall in love with many people, not  _ marry _ them. I’ve had several meetings with them, and as far as I can tell, they believe marriage to be a life bond between soulmates, it’s not even marriage how we see it, it’s like… getting your soulmate status registered with the government, it doesn’t even mean you’re in love with them. Second, please, inform me, how does this  _ ruin _ people?”

 

Bates just didn’t know when to shut his mouth, like every other bigot John had met, it was disgustingly easy to bait him. He gave John a sneer, “Yes, I’ve seen their  _ marriage system _ . They have more homosexuality than anything. They’re a race of perv-”

 

“Okay, anyone who says  _ homosexuality _ with that much scorn in their voice, isn’t getting a vote.”

 

Bates looked horrified. “You can’t-”

 

“I can. I promise you, I can, in fact, I just did.”

 

Bates crossed his arms, glaring at him. John was about two seconds from kicking him out of the room. “Of course, I’ve noticed your proclivities.”

 

John’s eyes rolled up. Of course, his species naturally didn’t have any sexuality like humans did, but they also didn’t view gender as a stagnant thing. Of course, that did nothing to piss him off any less. “Are you implying, that a person needs to be gay, to respect other people’s rights?”

 

Bates sputtered for a second, and Elizabeth finally spoke up again, also tired of hearing him speak. “Sargent Bates, you and I need to have a talk later, but for now, John is right, we can’t afford to turn them down. That’s the end of this matter.”

 

Thankfully, Bates was the first one out of the room. A few of the others left after him, but John leaned forward, rubbing at his eyes. Sometimes, the stress was too high, and he couldn’t believe he had to waste his time dealing with  _ this _ of all the fucking things, when they should be concentrating on  _ surviving _ .

 

He heard a throat clear, and looked up. He was in the room with Elizabeth, his team, Radek, and Lorne, who had sort of zoned out for most of the meeting. John had the feeling that Evan had been trying not to deck Bates like he had been.

 

“Yes?”

 

Elizabeth frowned, biting at her lip. “John, I just want you to know, that if there’s something… that you’re not supposed to tell, and I’m not supposed to ask… that it’s perfectly fine. I would never get you in trouble.”

 

John blinked a few times, before looking around, seeing that the rest of them all had similar looks on their faces. John thought of the million and a half different things he could say to that, starting with, ‘gender is a construct that my species doesn’t live by’ and ending with, ‘my father is the president of Earth, I doubt they would kick me out of the military for being queer.’

 

He opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally looking over at Evan. “You know, I’m not sure Bates should be my second in command.”

 

Evan raised an eyebrow, “You don’t, Sir?”

 

John nodded, “No, I do not. I don’t trust him. There are plenty of openly queer scientists and doctors here, and I don’t like the way he looks at them. I don’t trust him not to take advantage in a desperate situation to get rid of people he doesn’t like. Even the littlest bit of suspicion is enough to get people killed. It’s not worth it.”

 

Evan nodded, “And where would he end up?”

 

“I don’t know yet, but right now, he’s not someone I want in power.”

 

Evan nodded, “And would I be next to replace him?”

 

He was actually, the next highest on the track, already in charge of most of the marines. “You think you can handle it? It’s a lot of paperwork.”

 

Evan gave him a little grin, nodding. “I can handle paperwork.”

 

John nodded, starting to stand up. “Good, I’ll start on my side of the paperwork, that is, Elizabeth, as long as you have no issues there?”

 

Elizabeth shook her head, looking shocked. “No, I’ll get to work on mine. John, this is going to piss him off.”

 

John nodded, “My father was a military commander too, and if there’s one thing he taught me, it’s that you never keep people you wouldn’t trust to do the right thing. I don’t trust him, he needs to go. We can’t send him back to Earth, aren’t even in contact with them, but he’s a liability.”

 

He left the room without a look back, leaving the others thinking.

 

He’s never mentioned any of his family before.

 

***

 

After that, it seemed a little bit easier to get information out of the elusive John Sheppard than it ever had before. Of course, for the most part, they left that up to Rodney to pry, because he was good at prying. 

 

The more they revealed, the most confusing it got. Also, the more amused John became. There was something about spreading confusion that appealed to John, on a deeper, more shallow level. He really was his mother’s son.

 

***

 

“So, what is your mother like?”

 

John snorted, barely having sat down at their regular table in the commissary before Rodney had asked. “Which one?”

 

Rodney paused a little, before shoving a bite of odd-potato-thing in his mouth. “How many do you have?”

 

“Three. Sort of. Well, at  _ least _ three, that is. Sort of. I stopped keeping track.”

 

Rodney actually stopped eating for more than five seconds to process that one. “I… there are too many answers to that that I can think of. What’s your family situation?”

 

John shrugged, trying out the odd-potato-thing for himself before deciding it was palatable. He’s eaten much weirder, and the taste wasn’t unpleasant. Teyla and Ronon looked fascinated at hearing the answer. “Well, there’s my siblings, four of them, one brother, one transgender brother, and two sisters, one dead. My transgendered brother and my living sister, are twins.”

 

Rodney blinked at him a few times. “I’m sorry.”

 

John shrugged. It hurt, and he was pretty sure that it felt like an open wound on his father’s mind, but it was how it was, and they couldn’t take it back. “She was older than me. Husband, one son. He lives with his godparent’s now.”

 

Rodney nodded, “Your parents?”

 

John smirked a little at that. “Well, there’s Dad, Mama, who  _ aren’t _ married to each other, Dad’s actual wife, River, and his soulmate, Clara. Of course, you could also say that he’s married to his car, but that’s getting weird. Of course, all of my mothers have their own relationships themselves. River has at least one wife I know of, and Mama has had two other wives, Clara dates half the people she meets, boys and girls. It’s a mess.”

 

Rodney let out a little sigh, looking like he was terribly inconvenienced by this new information. “Your life is complicated. That why you got so pissed? Cause you grew up in a family unit?”

 

John rolled his eyes, “I said before, and I’ll say it again, queer people are not the only people allowed to be angry when someone’s being a dick. The fact that I  _ am _ queer, doesn’t mean that I only care because of it.”

 

Rodney looked excited, “So you  _ are! _ ”

 

John rolled his eyes, “Well, gender is a social construct, so yeah, thinking like that gets people labeled as queer, but people who are hetero-normative don’t exactly set a good enough example for me to  _ want _ that as a label.”

 

Rodney nodded, “Yeah, some of us are pretty horrible. I don’t think I am.”

 

John shrugged, “You are, but it’s not because you’re straight. It’s because I’ve seen you make grown men cry.”

 

Rodney thought about that for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, I do that.”

 

Ronon and Teyla seemed to be talking something over, before turning back to them. “What is, ‘queer’?”

 

“It’s an umbrella term, meaning that all people who do not count as straight -that is men who love women, and women who love men, and that exclusively- and cisgender -meaning, identifying as the gender you were born as, according to your genitals- are all in one category.”

 

Teyla’s eyes were wide. “That is a big category for people to be so… horrible, to.”

 

John snorted, “Yeah, it’s hard to explain. Humans are pretty bigoted against anyone who’s not normal. Luckily, all the people who are horrible, are old. They’ll be gone soon. Hopefully.”

 

Rodney looked amused, “Tell us how you really feel, Major.”

 

John rolled his eyes, “I think if I told you how I really feel, you’d questions my life choices, like joining the armed ranks in a country where they actively shame people for being queer.”

 

“I’m already questioning your life choices, I was questioning them the day I met you. Why  _ did _ you join?”

 

John was quiet for a few beats, looking down at his tray, he could feel his heartbeats thudding in his ears, and it was getting a little hard to breath. “I… didn’t want to be like my father. I joined the armed forces so I wouldn’t be like him, but I can feel it, in my every choice I make now that I’m in command, the first thing that pops into my head when I make a big decision, is, ‘would he make this choice?’”

 

“And if the answer is yes?”

 

“...then that’s most likely the right choice. No one has all the right answers in the universe, but he’s got some pretty good ones. The more I try and be different from him, the more I realize he was right.”

 

Rodney looked a little amused. “You know, most people grew out of the rebellious stage around twenty.”

 

John rolled his eyes. Here he was, nearly two hundred years past the limit, in human relative years. “Well, I’ve always been stubborn. I got that from all my parents. I think that’s a requirement for my family; stubborn.”

 

“You fit right in.”

 

It’s amazing, he’s said more about himself now than he has in years of mandatory therapy in different bases.

 

He thinks he’s finally getting entirely tired of hiding who he is. Humans, when shown their own humanity, in comparison to other creatures, are… trying. He’s tired of pretending that he’s one of them.

 

He’s never felt more alien, than when he left Earth to stay somewhere else. He’s not sure if that makes him homesick, or just sick of things in general, but something needs to give.

 

He feels like he doesn’t want to talk again for another week.

 

***

 

John will admit, that he is pretty much exactly like his father in one way. If you hand him a baby, not only will he do anything in his power to keep that baby safe, but he will also manage to make himself look like an idiot while talking to a creature that no one else realized he could understand.

 

You know, John has the worst fucking luck with this shit too, lemme tell you. He’d just been standing here, minding his own business while causing no bother to no one, when this girl comes out of the trees, literally barreling them both to the ground with a scream.

 

Well, as you can imagine, the hero -sort of- of our story was  _ shocked _ , I tell you,  _ shocked _ . Also, he sort of ended up sitting on a rock so he’s got a bruise the size of a head on his ass. Ow.

 

The woman stood up from the ground, paying no mind to helping him up, or god forbid, saying sorry for nearly killing him, and looked around for a good ten seconds while John heaved himself back up, clutching an unharmed bundle of… something… to her chest.

 

She finally looked back at him when he was standing, face twisted into the angriest pout he’d ever seen, and shoved the bundle in his arms. She didn’t even bother running away this time, she turned on her heel, and stalked off without a word, leaving the alien earthling gaping -and twitching a little- while he stared after her.

 

Well, that was polite.

 

He looked down at the soft bundle of cloth in his arms when he felt it give a little wriggle, and nearly dropped it when he ended up meeting the  _ tiniest _ little humanoid -sort of- creature in the eyes, glaring up at him with an angry pout -perfectly matching the woman who had abandoned him- like he’d gone and ruined everything.

 

How the  _ fuck _ does he get into this shit?

 

John sighed, and gently moved the little bundle -and upon closer inspection, he noted the hardened scale sections at both his temples, and realized he was most likely being abandoned for his hybrid status, because he was part human, but the other part, was not- and cooed a little at the infant.

 

Because, that’s what it was, an infant.

 

“Hey, sweetie, was that your momma?”

 

The baby gave an almost angry little coo at him, and John nodded along with it. ‘Not milk’, as the baby called the woman, implied that she was not, in fact, it’s birth mother. John sighed again and shifted the baby into a more comfortable position in his arms, starting to pace and bounce him while they waited for John’s team to get back.

 

John took that time to listen to the baby tell him a tale of woe, abandoned by it’s mother, and more recently, his aunt, to the cruel cruel world that is the unsafe hell outside of mother’s womb, the only place that had shown it kindness.

 

Upon further inspection and asking the baby for clarification, John found it to be a little girl.

 

When the rest of his team finally came back from the city, John was sitting on a fallen log with the baby cradled in the dip of his legs, cooing gently down at her as he did everything in his power to assure her that she would not be left on this horrible world.

 

“Sheppard?”

 

John looked up at his team, and for a moment he wished he’d heard them coming, because he knew it looked like he was crying, because he was a little. He was silent for half a minute while his team, bewildered, looked between him and the baby. John shrugged a little. “We can’t leave her here. She’s not wanted.”

 

Rodney sighed a little, though he didn’t look upset, more resigned. “Only you, Sunshine.”

 

Ronon came to stand behind him to look down at the little scaled baby, while Rodney and Teyla knelt in the grass to get a better look at her. She was so damn small, which John only actually knew because he’d removed the cloth swaddle around her because of the horrible heat in the forest, and to check her over to make sure she was healthy.

 

She was, and she also much appreciated her toes free from the swaddle now, because she was making a valiant attempt at eating them. She was clean, and healthy, and she had scales covering almost all sensitive places, and she was undeniably  _ not human. _

 

She was quite possibly, the most beautiful baby girl he’d ever seen in his life. He didn’t look at Rodney and Teyla, already feeling the forced smiles they were showing the girl. To a human, she probably looked sickly, the scales a sickly pale purple on her skin, giving it a glowing sheen that looked wrong on a human.

 

John would fight any one of them that said she wasn’t the most amazing little thing in the galaxy.

 

“What’s her name?”

 

“Reah.” Well, that was a bit of a short version, it was Reah the Bringer of Vengeance, but babies tended to be the most dramatic little things in the universe when it came to naming themselves.

 

“How’d you get her?”

 

“Aunt gave her to me, left. I think you can tell why they didn’t want her.”

 

“...because she’s a hybrid?”

 

This was a primarily humanoid world, if there was a baby running around with scales, she was a hybrid.

 

John nodded. “On a world where interbreeding is considered a sin. She’s not a hybrid, she’s an  _ abomination _ . Her conception was most likely not consensual.”

 

They seemed to get it. John couldn’t come right out and say that she was the product of rape, they would ask proof, but he’d heard it from Reah herself.

 

She would be much safer on Atlantis.

 

***

 

Thankfully, Carson was just as dumb around babies as he was. It seemed, that the two of them would be competing for Reah’s attention on a regular basis from now on. Carson might win, because he’d given her soft blankies and toys to chew on. She was a happy, giggly little girl after that.

 

John couldn’t bring himself to be jealous of him getting her attention, when she turned to him with the biggest smile in the world, and cooed out sweet little baby babbles about how  _ happy _ she was here in this new place.

 

John leaned in and pressed a few kisses to the soft scaleless belly of the baby, listening to her babble out more giggles and tell him more how much she loved it here.

 

That’s good.

 

***

 

Atlantis wasn’t the most safe place in the world, but it did have willing people, two of which, -a couple- have been trying for  _ years _ to have children, with no success whatsoever. 

 

John had been reluctant to let go of Reah to anyone, but he knew it was right. He wasn’t ready to be a parent, and they were, and they wanted her.

 

Still, they almost had to pry the little girl out of his arms when it was finally time to bring her back to her new quarters.

 

The parents promised that he could come see her whenever he wanted to. He’d hold them to that.

 

***

 

Radek Zelenka was an amazing man. In fact, if John were more like his father, -see; easily wooed- he would have fallen for the man faster than anything. He was a great guy, and he never looked at people with pity -unless they seemed particularly stupid- and even though he truly hated children, he never got angry with them - which is more than Rodney could say.

 

And, John is pretty sure that he’s the first person on this base that he could actually say, came from a similar background.

 

“I have one sister, two fathers, and one mother.”

 

John grinned at the guy. Rodney seemed content to ignore them while he kept working, and John thought that maybe, he was just a teeny tiny, just a little bit, completely enamoured by Radek Zelenka.

 

John gave him the tiniest little grin, “I’ve got more mom’s than you do.”

 

They both heard a groan on the other side of the lab, and looked over to see Rodney giving them an entirely disgusted look. “Please, go be a Kirk somewhere else. Quit flirting with him around me. It makes me jealous in the oddest ways that I don’t want to think about.”

 

John grinned at him. “Want to have a movie night, tonight? We can watch Star Wars.”

 

Rodney seemed to grumble a little bit. “If I don’t have work. You know I’m straight, right? I only ask because you seem insistent on us having some sort of date night.”

 

John nodded. “Best friends hang out too, right?”

 

Rodney nodded, still looking a little suspicious. “They do.”

 

John nodded, “That’s good, then you shouldn’t mind me screwing your lab partner, nothing to be jealous about. I have work to get back to, see you both later.”

 

He left the lab, ignoring the stupid grin that Radek shot him while Rodney went back to his disgusted whining, saying that he really didn’t want to hear that. John did like one thing about humans; they were so easy to freak out.

 

***

 

“Please stop talking, I will  _ pay _ you to stop talking.”

 

John grinned at Rodney slumped over the table. This is like a new record, Rodney isn’t even hung over, he’s just annoyed. “I’m only saying-”

 

“That’s not shutting up-”

 

“That as a child, this sort of thing  _ really _ fucked me up. Are you saying you never thought about it?”

 

Rodney shook his head, “I didn’t watch cartoons as a kid.”

 

“Well, it fucked me up pretty bad. Like, what was the point of it even, is Pluto a different breed than Goofy? Is Pluto into some hardcore BDSM? Why can Goofy speak and Pluto can’t?”

 

Rodney let out a long groan, sitting up enough to rub at his eyes. “Don’t question it, your questions are fucking  _ me _ up.”

 

John grinned a little, wondering what Rodney would do if he knew that John had once asked Disney himself why he’d done that. Disney hadn’t been able to look him in the eye for the rest of his visit with the Doctor.

 

He misses his dad sometimes. Really, he should call him.

 

***

  
  


Of all the fucking meetings he could have, to get back in touch with his father, hell, he expected to run into him on an off world planet more likely than the Doctor seeking him out himself. This is fucked.

 

John had to grab onto the railing for the stairs partway down, the whole city shaking as another blast hit their shields. “McKay! Do you have the dampeners back up yet?”

 

Rodney groaned from behind a console, sounding like he got hit with that last shake. “I… almost.”

 

“Work faster. The city’s shaking too much for us to work with.”

 

And that’s when John heard it; the sound that made up his childhood, the sound that he used to look forward to, a sound that brings hope all over the universe, that loud wheezing groan that sounded like nothing else.

 

He still can’t stop leaving the fucking parking brake on.

 

“Oh fucking hell, I don’t have time for this shite.”

 

Rodney and Elizabeth were giving each other shocked looks, Rodney having finally stood up from under the console station. John took a second to realize, they were the two other most likely candidates for ‘people who knew of the Doctor’ out of everyone on this base, and that could potentially get awkward.

 

John got there faster than the others though, because Elizabeth and Rodney were still gaping like a bunch of fucking fish, and John was just in time for the TARDIS door to open and a familiar face poking it’s way out. The Doctor found John right away and grinned.

 

“Ahh, there you are, come with me, now.” The door closed again, and stayed closed while John mentally counted back from ten. When he hit zero, the door opened up again, and the Doctor let out a loud, unintelligible noise. “Atlantis? Why the hell are we on Atlantis? You didn’t tell me you were moving, does your mother know about this?”

 

John let out a rough huff of air, suddenly being forced to grab the side of the TARDIS or be upended onto the floor when another blast wracked the city. “Rodney, get those dampeners working again,  _ please! _ ” 

 

John felt a little nauseous, suddenly feeling like everything was coming crashing down on him all at once, and vaguely noted that Rodney scrambled back for the console, seeming to work twice as fast.

 

Elizabeth looked between John and the Doctor with surprise, and John suddenly wished he had a reason -or the authority- to order her back to her station… of course, Rodney only did what he told him to because if he didn’t, they all might die.

 

He turned back to the TARDIS and frowned to see the Doctor looking at him like he thought John had done something wrong. “What?”

 

“You… why are you under attack?”

 

John winced, looking up towards the ceiling. “Well… it’s not  _ my _ fault, if that’s what you’re thinking!”

 

Elizabeth seemed to pull herself together enough to walk the rest of the distance towards them. She wasn’t dumb, she  _ was _ one of the people on this base that could identify this man, and he had a reputation for saving people. She wasn’t going to miss this chance.

 

“Sir, what are you… doing here?” Good job, Elizabeth, that was a good opener.

 

The Doctor turned to look at her, and frowned. “Well, I was looking for my  _ son _ , but it turns out he’s busy. What’s your situation?”

 

Elizabeth’s eyes widened, and she had to mentally slap herself so she could stop gaping at him again.

 

Luckily, Rodney’s never had an issue talking. “Did you just say your  _ son _ . John Sheppard, I swear to god, you kept the fact that you’re an  _ alien _ from me?”

 

John frowned back at the console Rodney was working under. “Excuse you, I was born on the same planet you were, we’re  _ all _ aliens in this city…” He trailed off, looking a little desperate. “My city… that I’m not sure I can save…”

 

He felt a hand on his own, and it took a few seconds to realize that the Doctor was taking it in his own, and for a second, John allowed himself to believe that everything was alright, that this was only another trip through space and time with his dad. He pulled in a shaky breath, and suddenly gripped the other man’s hand when another blast shook the city, still feeling nauseous at the blow. Christ, he thinks he might actually be sick or something.

 

When he spoke again, it sounded a little pathetic, even to himself, and he wanted to yell and scream and get angry, but he could barely manage speaking at all without breaking down in pained sobs. Something was wrong. “Rodney, would you just get the damn dampeners working again?”

 

Rodney was across the room so fast that John wondered if he’d been losing time. The others around the room -what few there were, and it was very few- were giving them all funny looks, and John had the feeling that the whole city would be crawling with rumors about John being an alien by the end of the day.

 

If they lived that long.

 

He felt a hand in his hair and wondered why the hell everyone was invading his space right now. “Shit, Major, you’re bleeding.”

 

“I… am?”

 

Elizabeth nodded, looking sad. “Yeah, earlier before Rodney started repairing the dampeners, you slipped on the stairs and cracked your head, but you said it only made you a little dizzy.”

 

John… didn’t remember that. “Fuck.”

 

The hand in his tightened, and he could hear his father’s voice suddenly. “John, get in the TARDIS, you’re in no position to fight. Actually, all three of you, I need to know what I’m working with.”

 

Rodney and Elizabeth piled into the TARDIS behind John, and he could hear them marveling over the control room behind him. He headed straight for the stairs up to the bookshelves. He could see a brown bag on the floor though. “Is Clara here?”

 

The Doctor shook his head, “No, she’s with Me off in the Houtslin galaxy. I think they’re on a date.”

 

John nodded. “Dad, we… whatever you came here for, we need to go now, we’re kind of being pulverized out there.”

 

“I can tell. Hey you, brainy one, what’s your name?”

 

Rodney startled a little, looking shocked that he was even here at all. “Uh, Rodney.”

 

The Doctor nodded, guiding John down into a soft sofa chair. “Pull that red lever next to your right elbow for me.”

 

“This one?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Rodney pulled it, and they could all hear the sound of the TARDIS taking off again, and John sighed a little in relief, thankful that this was at least going to give them a little time.

 

He feels like shit, and it would be horrible to pass out in the middle of a battle because he  _ fell _ and bumped his head. “Dad?”

 

“Yeah, Sunshine, right here.”

 

John couldn’t help the stupid smile on his face at that. He couldn’t act like he hated it so much when he felt this bad, and it felt  _ so _ comforting to hear it for once. “I’m gonna puke.”

 

Suddenly there was a trash can under his face while he leaning over in the chair, and after a few seconds, he emptied the contents of his stomach in it. Fuck, that just made his head hurt worse. He pulled back, breathing hard through the pain.

 

He could vaguely hear Rodney’s astonished voice about how he just  _ piloted the TARDIS _ , come to a halt down at the console. “Fuck, is he going to be okay?”

 

The Doctor nodded, leaning in to rub John’s back a little. He might not be very good at the touchy feely stuff, but he knew how to be a parent.

 

“If he were human, I’d say he’d have a massive hemorrhage and wouldn’t make it most likely, but he’s not human, and it’s already healing. Even so, he’s not going back to Atlantis for at least a week.”

 

John looked up as fast as he could, which was not very fast at all, still trying not to vomit again. “A week, Dad? My city is under  _ attack _ -”

 

“You’re in a  _ time machine _ , John, I’ll take you all back within a second of you leaving.” He turned around to look at Rodney and Elizabeth. “Alright, who’s attacking you?”

 

“The wraith.”

 

That stopped the man in his tracks. “The… wraith? Are you sure? The wraith are a peaceful, caregiving species.”

 

They both scoffed, and Rodney frowned at him. “Caregiving? You think those lifesuckers are  _ caregiving?” _

 

The Doctor looked down when he felt a tug on his pants leg, and found John trying to get his attention, but also trying to keep himself from puking again. John made a ‘come closer’ motion, and the Doctor did, leaning down so he could get closer to him. John pulled him in by the back of his neck till the Doctor’s forehead was pressed against the top of his own, and the Doctor could feel a sudden push of his son’s mind against his own. He let him in, and felt his mind flood full of memories of his past two years in Atlantis.

 

It was a bit enlightening.

 

Time lord’s have not stepped foot in this galaxy since after Atlantis was made, but before the war was started.

 

They couldn’t have known what the ancients would do to them.

 

He stood up again, eyes wide, and feeling a little sick himself.

 

He had been there, back in the beginning when the sisterhood of Karn had given the wraith their powers of life transference in the first place, the ability to suck life from one, and give to another. The sisterhood were the only other immortals in the universe who could do something like that, and they had given that gift to the wraith.

 

“Why… why would the ancients take domun vitae from them? That was a gift from the sisterhood of Karn. No wonder the wraith are killing the humans, they took away their food source.”

 

Elizabeth looked at Rodney for a second before stepping forward to see them a little better. “Are you saying, that the wraith once had a viable food source, that didn’t involve killing?”

 

The Doctor nodded. “Yes, we were the ones that gave it to them. I never thought the ancients would take it from them. Twelve thousand years ago, they had the gift of life, they could take it from domun vitae, and it would nourish them. I call them caregivers, because their payment for this food source, was to revitalize the residents of this galaxy with it. Sick and weak would come from all over, and they would heal them. The feeding scar that John has now on his chest, was once a source of pride for humans, to show that he’s been healed and made anew. I honestly cannot imagine why the ancients would take that from them.”

 

Rodney was silent for a moment, before getting an odd look on his face. “Anyone else hit with the sudden realization that we’re in a  _ time machine _ ?”

 

“Rodney, it’s not-”

 

“No, hear me out, we’re on a time machine. Twelve thousand years ago, there was a plant or whatever that gave life to the wraith without killing humans, why don’t we go back twelve thousand years and grab all we can to bring them back? Listen, I didn’t join this program to  _ kill _ people, not even wraith, I do what I need to do, but if there’s a way to end this peacefully, I say we take it.”

 

The Doctor grinned at him, and John had the sudden feeling that Rodney was going to become a new resident of the TARDIS sometime soon. John reached over and grabbed the Doctor’s hand after setting the basket down again, feeling like there was nothing left inside to puke up. “I don’t feel so good.”

 

The Doctor turned around and leaned down, holding a hand to his forehead. “You have a slight fever. Alright, first thing’s first, we need to get John to a hospital. Your mother would kill me if I let you stay hurt on my watch.”

 

Elizabeth spoke up again, looking a little sick, “Um, I think it’d be best for me to go back to the city. You said you can have him back in seconds, well, I don’t mind missing out on an adventure, if I could have this all over sooner.”

 

The Doctor nodded, but turned around when he heard John mumbling something. “What’s wrong?”

 

“I want Radek.”

 

Rodney make a loud sighing noise from below them. “Radek this, Radek that, is he all you think about?”

 

John scowled over at him. “I want to make sure he’s okay, you ass.”

 

He turned back towards the ground, groaning when he felt his stomach turn. The Doctor looked thoughtful, going through John’s memories for a man named Radek, before finally smiling, deciding on a plan. “Good enough for me, I’ll drop you off at the science labs on Atlantis, this battle will be over before you know it.”

 

He gently untangled his hand from John’s own, heading back down towards the center console, and putting in a different coordinate. The groaning wheezing came back, and then stopped. “Alright, your stop is here.”

 

After Elizabeth got off, the Doctor stuck his head back out, looking around for a moment. “Radek Zelenka?”

 

A small man with glasses and longish hair, looked at him with a purely shocked face. “...yes?”

 

“Come with me. John wants to see you.”

 

He let out a little sigh, before getting up from the floor, where he’d been trying to up the shield capacity. The things he does for that man that he loves.

 

When he stepped into the police box, he honestly wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but a room with Rodney and John in it, was not on that list.

 

The Pegasus galaxy just got a little weirder.

 

***

 

John spent two days in a hospital in a galaxy that Rodney had never heard of, and speaking a language that he only understood because of the TARDIS translation device. The Doctor said that if they admitted him, this was one of the few galaxies that John’s mother -who Rodney was starting to realize, was the Mistress… who is a literal killer. Rodney now realizes why the Doctor sounds like he’s afraid of her- wouldn’t find out about it.

 

They took him into surgery right away, insisting that the blood in his head was making him sick.

 

That damn brat, always telling everyone he was fine when he so obviously wasn’t. Fuck. John was out of surgery now, dead asleep in a hospital bed, and Rodney was getting what the Doctor was telling him was sort of like coffee out in the hallway. It didn’t smell like coffee, and it was bright pink, but he said it would wake him up like coffee.

 

Radek had both arms crossed, sitting in a chair on one side of the bed, unable to take his eyes off the man that he’s so stupidly head over heels for. He cocked his head to the side, eyes a little harsh as he thought. “You are… his father?”

 

The Doctor nodded. “My first born baby boy.”

 

Radek nodded again, thinking that over. “You are also, the president, of Earth.”

 

The Doctor sighed. That’s a position that he tries -again and again- to forget about. “Well, only when it’s in danger.”

 

“We are an Earth colony, and we are in the middle of a crisis. Take charge now.”

 

The Doctor nodded. “I am. John needs to be better for me to help you all though. I need him… and that wraith that saved him.”

 

Radek wracked his brain for a name, before raising his eyebrows. “Todd?”

 

The Doctor nodded, “Yeah. For this to work, I need a willing wraith to help out.”

 

Radek nodded. “You are good father. John speaks high of you.”

 

The Doctor paused. In all his years of people saying nearly that same thing to him, this is the first time it’s honestly surprised him. It was no secret there was a lot of distance between the father and son, but what had really caused the rift, was the fight they had gotten into the day John had told him that he was joining the armed forces. The Doctor couldn’t stand the thought of having a soldier for a son, and John couldn’t stand the fact that his father never believed himself to be a commander in the first place.

 

The Doctor was finally starting to believe him, and John was finally starting to see the downfalls of being a soldier.

 

“He does?”

 

Radek nodded. “He says you taught him much, that he would not be here without you.”

 

The Doctor sighed, sitting in the chair across the bed from Radek as Rodney came back into the room, two cups of the pink not-coffee in his hands. He gave one of them to his lab partner and sat down in the last chair in the room. The Doctor had already declined the drink before Rodney left. He never liked the taste.

 

“So, when’s he going to wake up?”

 

The Doctor thought about that for a moment, before shrugging. “Doesn’t matter, he won’t be up to going anywhere for at least two days. He needs to heal.”

 

“Only two days?” Radek looked a little like he wanted to force John on bedrest for at least a week. He always got like that when John got hurt, which was very, very often.

 

The Doctor nodded, “He’s not human, he’ll heal fast.”

 

Radek sighed a little. He quite liked having an excuse to keep John in bed for longer.

 

When John finally woke up later, it was a lot darker in the room, still light enough to see. He heard Rodney snoring on the other side of the room, and looked over to see him passed out on a spare cot, and sighed, turning back over, and coming face to face with someone who made him smile a little, like a dope, so much happier to have him closer. Radek was awake, and looking at him like he could barely believe John was alive.

 

He looked around for a second, before ending up on a cup of water near the bed. He was thirsty. Radek got up and grabbed the cup, helping him sip from it before taking it back and placing it to the side.

 

John still felt like shit, but as long as his head was in one place, he could stand to be… alive. 

He lifted up the blanket on the bed, turning onto his side a little bit and looking at Radek expectantly.

 

They put him in a double sized hospital bed, you can bet your ass he’s going to demand cuddles. Radek grinned at him, and cautiously got onto the bed with him, careful to move wires and other poke-y tubes coming off of him out of the way before he laid down.

 

“Where’s Dad?”

 

Radek turned to press into his boyfriend’s side, lacing their fingers together to rest on top of the covers. “He is back in his ship right now. He said he would be back to see us later.”

 

John nodded, letting out a slightly painful yawn, and nuzzling back into Radek’s shoulder. “That’s good. He gets antsy being in one place for too long.”

 

Radek slept there that night, and the night after, thankful to be back with John again.

 

***

 

John’s never slept in the same bed as a human before. He hadn’t thought of this as a possibility till now.

 

They were in a garden, and John was curled up on a settee in front of the fountain. He couldn’t exactly place it, but he thinks his mother used to take him and his siblings here when they were little. She had called it the Nethersphere.. No wait… Apalapachia… his memories of the garden were so small and fuzzy. Why had they stopped taking him there? It was a beautiful garden, and it was always green.

 

“I have never been here before.”

 

John looked up, and ended up raising an eyebrow to see Radek standing there, an odd look on his face. John blinked a few times, and patted the spot on the settee next him for him to come over. When Radek was comfortably situated on the soft, John curled up against his side, John finally spoke.

 

“Gallifreyians are highly touch telepathic. We can control it for the most part, but it’s hard to control anything your body down while asleep.”

 

“Is this your dream?”

 

John nodded. “I used to come here as a child. Mama took us. I asked Dad if he would take us one time, and he got freaked out by my memories of it when I couldn’t tell him a proper name. He said it wasn’t safe. Mama said it was the safest place in the universe, she made it for us.”

 

Radek raised an eyebrow. “I think your parents need better communication skills.”

 

“You and everyone they know.”

 

They were quiet a bit, enjoying the silence in a way they never could while awake.

 

“We’ve never slept in the same bed before, have we?”

 

“I never slept while in your bed, though I often wanted to. I was worried about exactly this happening.”

 

“I don’t think it’s all too bad. As long as you’re not prone to nightmares.”

 

“Not often, at least.”

 

“I think we should do this more.”

 

***

 

When John was out of the hospital again, the first thing he did -because he’s already been told their plan for bringing back the domun vitae to their own century, and using Todd to help bring it to the other wraith without getting killed in the process- was demand to go back to Earth.

 

“John, this isn’t time to back out on us now-”

 

“Oh, shut up, Rodney, I’m not backing out on you guys, I simply think that there are a few things we need to do back on Earth before going on a mission that might potentially kill us all.”

 

“Oh… like, talking to the president?”

 

John shook his head with a snort, letting them all back into the TARDIS console room. “Hell no, why should we? We already have the president with us.”

 

The Doctor didn’t look entirely pleased with that, but he didn’t argue with him. “Then what are we doing there?”

 

John’s stomach grumbled. “Well, I want a cheeseburger for starters. I haven’t had Five Guy’s burgers in  _ years _ , Dad.”

 

The Doctor sighed, “In the middle of a crisis and you’re asking for a cheeseburger? We have a perfectly serviceable kitchen in the back.”

 

John rolled his eyes, “Did you not hear my stomach, it wants what it wants, and it wants Five Guy’s cheeseburgers.”

 

The Doctor sighed and put in the coordinates into the console, pulling down the lever after. The groaning wheeze came to a stop and he gave John a look. “Fine, we’re here.”

 

John smiled before looking down. “And, I’m dressed like an escaped mental patient, let me go change into some real clothes and get a wallet.”

 

Radek turned to look over at the center console, while Rodney just looked impatient. Of course, he wouldn’t be upset at the idea of food, he never was. “I assume we’re on Earth?”

 

The Doctor, who was leaning his chin against his right hand, and looking bored -because they’re supposed to be having an  _ adventure _ right now, but instead he’s taking his son out for lunch, which is boring- made a humming noise, nodding. “California, year two thousand and sixteen.”

 

“That’s kind of off a few years for us.”

 

The Doctor shrugged this time. “I was out to lunch with my grandson a bit ago. The coordinates are still in the console. Stiles and John are a lot alike in their tastes.”

 

When John came back, he had on all black civies, and Rodney let out a little groan. “Is everything you own black? Are you secretly goth?”

 

John snorted, shoving a wallet and an oversized cell phone into too tight pants. Rodney was starting to wonder why he wasn’t gay again when the man bent over to tie a loose bootlace, and had to mentally slap himself and think of women again.

 

That seems to be happening way too often now days.

 

“I’m not goth, I just have too many other things on my mind than picking out colours.”

 

“Yeah, like how we’re going to save our city under attack?”

 

John sighed, getting back up and straightening out his tee shirt. “I, unfortunately, already know how we’re going to do that, which is why we’re not in a meeting with Earth representatives right now, because we all know how much all of them would  _ love _ to order us to stand down and blow them all out of the sky. I don’t want to get court martialed and be forced to leave the one place I truly want to call my home. I won’t roll over and give Atlantis to the Earth military, and I won’t be removed that easily.”

 

The Doctor was grinning at his son, looking far too fond, and Rodney nearly mirrored the expression. Radek was actually starting to look a little bored. Yeah, that sums up this group fairly well. 

 

He pulled the wallet back out and pulled out a card, shoving it in Rodney’s hands as he passed him. “There’s a Starbucks across the street from Five Guys, I don’t want you complaining about missed opportunities later.” 

 

Rodney looked like he’d just been handed the holy grail, and Radek followed him out the door, the two of them heading in the direction of coffee while John and the Doctor went into the fast food place.

 

“You know, I could take you anywhere in the universe, and any time you want, to get you lunch, and you choose a chain fast food place, that I know of on at least twelve different worlds.”

 

John grinned up at his dad, moving to stand in line behind a woman and her teenage son. “Oh come on, Earth has some pretty good stuff. Also… I kind of missed it here.”

 

The Doctor smiled. “Well, I can’t argue with that. You’ve been gone two years, any regrets?”

 

John nodded. “Yeah, waking up a race of hungry vampires.”

 

“...I’d probably regret that too. But, if all goes well, this should take care of them without having to go to war.”

 

John was silent for a moment as they moved up in the line. “...Dad… do you really think this will stop the fighting?”

 

The Doctor shrugged. “If… if all they want is the right to food and life like we have, then yes. But… you can’t build a city overnight, and this is going to take a while. There will be those who don’t care, they want to kill all other life in Pegasus, or hold a grudge against other humans, but I’m sure your military won’t have any issue picking those off once everyone else is taken care of.”

 

“You don’t approve?”

 

The Doctor shook his head. “You know I’ll never stand for the fighting, but I understand that people are dying right now, and this is the only way to take care of them. I won’t be a part of it, but I won’t stop you.”

 

John nodded, getting to the front of the line and putting in a large order for all four of them. When they left the line, John and the Doctor sat down to wait for the order. “You know, you could order them not to fight. You’re their higher most commanding officer, and this is a war. You have the authority.”

 

The Doctor looked a little sad. “I will only intervene if this starts to look more like an extermination than a war. I won’t let hundreds of thousands of planets all die because I wasn’t ready to let the Earth military do their jobs.”

 

They were quiet for a bit longer, before the Doctor turned to him with a grin. “Your city? Where you finally feel at home?”

 

John’s lips twisted up a little bit. “Shut up. I love that city more than anything. She may not be a time machine, but she can fly, and she can speak. I love her.”

 

The doctor nodded. “A wonderful city. Smarter than the people who built her.”

 

John was quiet for another minute. “Why did the ancients take… whatever it is that gives wraith life, from them?”

 

“Domun vitae, it’s a plant based life form, made by the sisterhood of Karn, holding sparks of the flame of life in it, and with the ability to give life.”

 

“So, were they a species, or a plant?”

 

“...a… non sentient species, but alive enough to know pain and with the ability to mimic lifeforms. They usually took the form of humans.”

 

“So… the ancients watched them feed on plants shaped like humans, and figured they’d take it away from them? What’s the freaking point in that?”

 

The Doctor shook his head, looking annoyed. “I have no idea. The ancients are a stuck up race, full of people who held ascension over life itself. I never got along with them. They were always their own demise. They reminded me too much of Gallifreyans.”

 

They got called to the counter to pick up their order, and Rodney came into the restaurant with Radek behind him, a coffee in either hand while Radek had an iced beverage in his own. “You two get what you wanted?”

 

Rodney nodded. “Yeah, I may have, sort of, bought out half the shop. I put it all in the ship. But then I couldn’t figure out what I wanted myself, so I got two.”

 

Oh great, he’s created a monster. John snorted. “I got the food, let’s go.”

 

Radek looked a little amused, sipping at his drink while he followed him out the door. “We’re not staying?”

 

John shook his head. “Well, anything specific you need to do before we leave?”

 

Radek shook his head. “No.”

 

John nodded. “Alright, that means it’s time to go find Todd.”

 

When they got back into the TARDIS, the Doctor told John to interface with the console system.

 

John winced before doing so, his features screwed up as he wrapped his fingers around the slimy pink ridges, sliding his hands most of the way into the gross feeling area as he let the TARDIS into his head, thinking back to Todd, to the wraith that had fed from him before giving everything back in the end. It felt weird and invasive, just like it always did, just like Clara always complained about.

 

He felt the TARDIS lock onto something in his head, and take off again. He didn’t pull his hands back until it landed again, quickly wiping his hands free of moisture on his pants before moving to check the console behind his dad’s shoulder. “Air is breathable, plantlife is non-sentient. Sounds like it’s safe to go out there.”

 

The Doctor snorted. “Oh, all the times I’ve said that in my lives.”

 

John rolled his eyes and moved to the door and opened it up, jumping a foot in the air when he immediately found himself staring up at a slightly crazed looking wraith. “Well fuck, you aren’t a hard wraith to find.”

 

The planet was mostly green and purple plantlife, no animals in sight as far as John could tell. He hadn’t the slightest clue what Todd was doing here.

 

Todd raised a silent eyebrow, staring at him for a few more seconds. “I knew you would come back to me.”

 

John winced. “That’s not creepy at all, thanks. Will you come help us?”

 

Todd seemed to think it over, and John could feel him pushing at his mind, even without any contact and a foot away. He frowned, but let the wraith in to get the general idea of their plan. The wraith nodded once. “I will come with you, if only to keep you safe.”

 

John bristled a little bit at the very idea of it. “I don’t need  _ saving _ .”

 

Rodney and Radek both snorted when the two of them made their way back into the TARDIS, looking at each other and thinking of the two days they just spent in the hospital while John recovered from nearly getting his brain smashed on a stair case. They didn’t believe a word of it.

 

The wraith looked equally unimpressed by the idea of it. “Of course.”

 

John scowled. “Can we go now?”

 

The Doctor was in the middle of the control center, one hand braced on the console, looking amused. “I thought you were hungry?”

 

John’s stomach growled again and he suddenly remembered his burger, still untouched in the bag next to the door, and went for that now. “Okay, food’s also a good idea too.”

 

He sat down at the top of the stairs in the same armchair he’d been led to when he first got on the TARDIS a few days ago, letting Rodney have at the other food bags while he decimated a cheeseburger, making a few horribly erotic noises at his first  _ real _ Earth style cheeseburger in over two years. God, he loves Atlantis, but he misses beef.

 

Radek looked up at the noise, and frowned. “Not even I can get him to make that noise.”

 

Rodney winced, giving himself a slow motion face palm. “And the winner for ‘things I didn’t want to know’ is…”

 

The Doctor steadily ignored them all, eating a container of fries while pretending he didn’t hear any of this. He’s over several billion -sort of- years old, he’s an old hand at ignoring things.

 

John spoke up again when he was halfway done with the burger, pulling both his legs up into the armchair so he could sit cross legged there, taking a drink from a soda. Todd had moved so he was hovering behind the man, looking a little like a guard dog. “So, where is our next stop. The Sisterhood, or somewhere in Pegasus?”

 

The Doctor thought it over. “It would be best to choose somewhere in Pegasus, and not inform the Sisterhood until later.”

 

John nodded, deciding not to question it for now. He knew that the Doctor and Ohila had had a sort of spat recently over a second stolen TARDIS in the Cloisters of Gallifrey, but his father avoided the subject when anyone brought it up. He nodded, letting the Doctor take over.

 

“Gallifreyians didn’t always have the ability to regenerate.”

 

The Doctor paused, hand hovering over a button, before turning to look at Rodney, who was sitting on the stairs, an eyebrow raised. “How do you know that?”

 

Rodney shrugged. “You just told me. It’s the most obscure fact that Earth knows about Gallifreyians, though no one knows if it’s true or not. I figure, if we’re talking about the gift of life, why not ask where it all came from in the first place?”

 

The Doctor was silent for a beat, before he turned to look in the direction of his son, and back to the scientist. “The Gallifreyians and the wraith are… siblings, I suppose. Well, we all sort of evolved from the same species, that is. You call wraith ‘vampires’ but that’s not true. The  _ actual _ vampires and great beasts, bigger than the largest star you’ve ever seen. They tore into this universe at the dawn of time, and have been consuming us ever since. There aren’t many great vampires left, but they’re deadly, consuming whole worlds in one feeding.”

 

Radek and Rodney looked horrified. John had the feeling that Todd has already heard this story before. He’s heard parts of it himself, but not enough. “And you say, both Gallireyians and wraith have this ability?”

 

The Doctor shook his head. “No. But we are who we are because of them. The ability to pull life from creatures, is something that Gallifreyians taught them, after we learned how to regenerate using the same ability. Wraith showed a resistance to regenerative abilities, and so we taught them immortality. Rassalion created regeneration, he and Omega were doing experiments on stars, to create the power needed for time travel and immortality. Only, Gallireyians couldn’t live forever, we got too old. So we died and rose again.”

 

“Like the Pheonix.”

 

“...that particular mythological creature  _ may _ have come from something I said around that time period…”

 

John was the least surprised out of all of them in the room. Time travelers have a petulance for starting some shit.

 

“Da, is that where the Sisterhood came in? I thought they didn’t discover the flame of life till Rassalion discovered time travel?”

 

The Doctor thought about that for a moment before getting a sour look on his face. “Baby, you’re gonna get a headache trying to figure out when all that happened. Be a dear and sit there while your old man blathers on about his childhood.”

 

“Okay.”

 

The Doctor nodded. “As I was saying, we stole the idea from the great vampires, in a hope of becoming strong enough to defeat them. We’ve gotten rid of a few, but they’re still out there.”

 

“So, the wraith was once your ally in war?”

 

The Doctor nodded. “We left them with the gift of life, under the idea that they would only use it to serve and protect those who cannot protect themselves, not to take it from them. I still have no idea why the ancients would have taken their food source from them.”

 

“Maybe it was racism.”

 

The Doctor turned to look at his son, a furrowed brow. “What?”

 

John shrugged. “I’ve seen racism and fear compel people to do a lot of things. It doesn’t surprise me, that they would look at a creature feeding on a plant that shapes itself as a human, and see it as a  _ threat _ . From what I know about living with ancients, they were twice as arrogant as time lords, and half as smart. They were so damn focused on ascending to a higher plain of existence, they forgot about the one they lived on.”

 

The Doctor shook his head a little, looking disappointed. “That is a shame. I’m sure there were good ones, but why bother when any one of them might kill you. It’s like the lottery, and most people lose the lottery.”

 

John sighed, and sat back in his seat, waiting for everyone else to finish so they could go to their next stop on the list.

 

***

 

The planet they landed on was dark, nightfall.

 

“It will be night for weeks now.”

 

John turned around to look at Todd behind him with a raised eyebrow. “Weeks?”

 

Todd nodded, eyes zeroed in on the console behind them where they were looking out the opened TARDIS doors to see everything outside. It was a hot, muggy planet, with plants everywhere. The wraith turned back around, and reached over his shoulder, pointing up at a far, distant moon in the sky, so bright it was almost a star. “Makesis, the mother moon. She is low in the sky, it will be dark for weeks. I believe your world would call it in eclipse.”

 

John turned back to look at his dad questioningly. The Doctor nodded. “Sort of, but it lasts a long time. He’s right though, it’ll be dark for a while. Bright enough to see, I think, but I’m packing night vision goggles in case.”

 

They were still on the same planet they had picked Todd up from, but ten thousand years before.

 

“Me and John will go to the temple, and ask to borrow a plant, we can synthesize thousands of them in the TARDIS before we land in the future again. You two stay here, keep an eye on her so she doesn’t run off without us. Todd, you stay with them. We can’t risk you being seen.”

 

Todd gave the Doctor an odd look, and the Doctor just moved past him to grab John and drag him back further into the TARDIS towards the closet so they could get fitted to hike a few miles to the temple. “I’m not stupid, you know. Your mother is the high priestess, if they find you, there will be a bit of a problem.”

 

John made a noise at that, but was dragged down the hallway before he could say anything about it, and Rodney and Radek turned to look at Todd. “Priestess?”

 

Todd nodded, an unamused grunt coming out as he crossed his arms. “Yes.”

 

There was an awkward silence for another minute, before Radek spoke. “Is she still alive in the future?”

 

“No.”

 

Radek nodded again. Todd may be a wraith, but you’d have to be an idiot not to see the way John looks at him. Anyone that John looked at like that, must be worth it in some way. “I am sorry.”

 

Todd nodded, not meeting his eyes. “I would have left this plain with her, but I made a promise to survive, no matter what it took. I did.”

 

Radek wondered for a moment, who made him promise that, but the answer was sort of obvious. He had the feeling, they were going to be here for a while.

 

When the Doctor and John came back, John looked more fit to walk up a mountain pass to a temple than the Doctor did, but then again, the Doctor never looked like he was outfitted for anything properly, so none of them questioned it. John pulled an iPhone -an honest to god, iPhone, Rodney isn’t even sure what type it was, cause he’s never seen anything like it, John’s probably cheating and getting the newest ones before anyone else, the cad- out of his pocket. 

 

“Alright, this is an interdimensional phone, I know, we normally use radios in places like this, but the atmosphere on this planet looks pretty spotty, so those most likely won’t go through. My number’s on the console, call me if you need anything.”

 

The Doctor and John were out the door before any of them could complain about it, and the three of them stood there awkwardly for another minute. Rodney sort of wanted to wander around the TARDIS, but it sounded like one of those ideas that might get him killed, and John always told him not to do those, so he pulled out his tablet instead.

 

“You guys think we get wifi in this place?”

 

He booted the tablet back up, and raised his eyebrows at the little signal bar at the top of it. “Yup.”

 

Well, at least he has something to entertain himself with for now.

 

***

 

The Doctor and John were back in under five minutes. They were all about to marvel at how short of a time that had been, when they all heard the ragged breaths that John was trying -and sort of failing- to pull in while the Doctor freaked out.

 

“Oh god, what did he do now?”

 

The Doctor ran to pull a drawer out from the pillar under the console, pulling out a first aid kit. “Allergic reaction.”

 

“To what?”

 

“The air.”

 

Rodney sputtered, moving to help John sit up against the front steps, the ragged breaths sounding like a painful asthma attack. Rodney helped him sit up while the Doctor came back, an epi pen type thing in his hand, which he then depressed into John’s thigh. “How the fuck is he allergic to the air?”

 

The Doctor shrugged. “He just is, it’s not like people can pick their allergies. I need to go find a gas mask, you three keep him from killing himself before I get back.”

 

John was already breathing a little more smooth, but he curled in on his stomach again, gagging a few times. Radek showed up with a water bottle -because he was the only one who bothered to figure out where the kitchens were- and shoved it at John for him to take. John did with a grateful smile, taking a drink to get rid of the dryness in his throat.

 

“Okay, that sucked.”

 

Rodney snorted. “That’s the second time you’ve almost died since we left Atlantis, I’m not sure this whole ‘space exploration’ is a good idea for you.”

 

John sighed, and used Todd’s help up off the floor -ignoring the way that Radek and Rodney both winced when he held his hand- and rolled his shoulders to get the stiffness out of them. “I’m fine. I’ve been doing this since before either of you were born, calm down.”

 

Rodney looked curious. “How old are you exactly?”

 

“Three hundred and ninety two.”

 

Radek let out a low whistle while the Doctor came back into the room with an odd shaped gas mask in his hands. The bottom half covered his ears, nose and mouth, and the top half was clear, like a helmet.

 

“To be honest, I expected you to give me some crappy old mask from the seventies.”

 

The Doctor shrugged. “I thought about it, but you’d probably get irritated eyes if we left them uncovered. This should keep everything out.”

 

The Doctor pressed the release on the back of the helmet, opening it up for John to get it on. “Wait, if you need to blow your nose or sneeze, do it now, because you might die if you have to do it out there.”

 

John let out the loudest sigh at that and held up a hand. “Hold on, give me a minute. I need to get ready to not be able to touch my fave for the foreseeable future.”

 

The Doctor nodded. “Good choice.”

 

John left the room and the Doctor crossed his legs, leaning against one of the railings. There was another awkward silence in the room, before Radek let out a loud sigh, and left after him, already tired of how awkward things were getting.

 

Todd was the one to break the silence. “Things seem to be going well.”

 

The Doctor ended up giving the wraith a tight smile, though it looked genuine enough. “I see why John likes you.”

 

Todd shrugged. “It could be worse. He could have fallen for that one.”

 

It took Rodney a half a minute to realize Todd was talking about him. “Hey! John would be  _ lucky _ to end up with me!”

 

Todd and the Doctor both winced at that. The Doctor would never tell his son not to love someone, but he couldn’t see the two of them having a healthy relationship. John would probably kill him. He was a lot like River like that. “In another universe, maybe.”

 

Rodney nodded, looking happy, and the Doctor wondered at how  _ easy _ it really was to placate smart people. He knows, because Clara succeeds in placating him all the time. She would always be smarter than all of them.

 

When John and Radek came back, Radek’s glasses were mostly sideways, and John looked distinctly flushed in the cheeks. Rodney let out a groan. “Do you two always have to do that?”

 

John shrugged while Radek fixed his glasses and took the helmet from his dad in passing. “I almost died ten minutes ago, yes, I had to.”

 

He tugged the gas mask the rest of the way on, and sighed, already feeling an odd change in the air pressure and taste inside. “I hate this.”

 

“It’ll keep you alive.”

 

He thought that over for a few seconds. “I love this, this is my new favorite thing.”

 

“Thought so. Are we done with the dramatics, or can we go now.”

 

John grabbed his fallen pack off the floor, and shoved the first aid kit inside of it -bigger on the inside- and shouldered it again. “I’m sorry, did my almost dying get in the way of things?”

 

The Doctor nodded, opening the door and giving John a light shove out of it. “Yeah, now move your boot.”

 

John sighed, and headed out, his voice taking on a slightly horrifying ventilation sound to it. It was creepy.

 

When they were both gone,  _ again _ , Rodney looked between Todd and Radek. “You two are going to be marrying into that family one day.”

 

Radek and Todd gave each other an odd look, and turned away, looking for something else to keep them occupied till John and the Doctor came back again.

 

This is all great fun, no wonder everyone on Earth wants to travel with the Doctor.

 

***

 

“Ow.” 

 

“You shouldn’t have stepped on that, I  _ told _ you not to step on that-”

 

“You told me not to step on that,  _ as _ I was stepping on that-”

 

“And now you’re hurt again, and you still need to walk on that-”

 

“It’s fine, Da, I’ve walked on worse, I promise. You don’t get to where I am in the military without working on a busted ankle or two-”

 

“And I’m not sure which one of them is going to kill me for letting you get hurt, but my bet is on the one with the glasses,-”

 

“Da-”

 

“He’s scrappy, I can tell now, he’s got the same look in his eyes that Clara gets when she thinks I’ve done something stupid-”

 

“Da!”

 

The Doctor stopped, both talking and walking, and looked down at John, who was limping along with his dad’s help, and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

 

John nodded his head in another direction, and the Doctor looked over, to see the temple. “Oh, we’re here.”

 

“Yup.”

 

They headed off in that direction, and found the temple entrance, with guards on either side of the opening.

 

John hoped that he knew was he was doing here, because John was never very good at this. Normally, when Elizabeth wants him to talk to someone new, John just lets Rodney ramble at them about science while Teyla makes friends with them. He’s not great at talking to people.

 

The guards looked at each other, and then back to the two time lords there, as if they don’t exactly see this sort of thing every day, but none of them stopped them from walking -limping- through the doorway to the temple, and John wondered if his dad has been here before.

 

Probably.

 

“Doctor.”

 

John followed the call of the drawling, almost purring voice, to find a tall -they were all so damn tall- pale green wraith queen -priestess?- standing next to a throne dais, with a male wraith, wearing traditional priestess robes. She looked… well, she didn’t look anything like a queen that John had ever seen before. Her hair was white, and she looked  _ kind _ .

 

“Taseia, long time, I need your help with something.”

 

The queen looked less than pleased at that, but she let out a little sigh, and nodded for them to follow her. “Your companion is hurt.”

 

The Doctor nodded. “My son, actually. This is John.”

 

She looked at the boy curiously before leading them down a short hallway towards a door. “My son is a healer, he will fix yours.”

 

Which is why John now found himself in another room, face to gas mask, looking up at Todd, once more.

 

Ten thousand years early.

 

Why is his life is so damn complicated?

 

***

 

John was sitting on a soft table, sort of like a hospital exam table, he supposes, and avoiding looking the wraith in the eye while the other gently manipulated his left ankle in soft -very soft- hands.

 

With bare skin on skin contact.

 

See, John was young still, it was hard to keep his thoughts to himself, he was giving himself a bit of a headache trying.

 

“We have met before.”

 

John looked down at the wraith -he was so damn  _ young _ \- and cringed. “Well, I’ve met a version of you. My dad’s the Doctor, you can imagine the odd time conundrums we get into.”

 

The wraith looked amused when he nodded. “Why are you wearing a mask?”

 

“Can’t breath without it.”

 

John gave the wraith a little shrug. He still wasn’t fully sure how he can possibly be  _ allergic _ to air, but the mask was helping, and he wasn’t willing to take it off to see if he still was right now. He twitched when he felt the wraith start to bandage up his ankle, the area feeling oddly numb to touch around the pain right now.

 

“You should be able to walk without pain in the morning. I’m sure my mother will give you and your father rooms to stay in till then.”

 

John bit his lip, wondering if that was a good idea. He’d need to call the TARDIS to tell everyone he wouldn’t be back till later, and he’d be with…  _ younger _ Todd for longer.

 

He let out a squeak behind the mask when he felt his legs pushed apart, and found himself looking up at Todd through the mask when the healer stepped between them, putting a pressure on his groin that felt  _ way _ too good.

 

“Um-”

 

“You desire me.”

 

John swallowed once, making the wraith drag his eyes down to the exposed part of John’s neck, and nodded, face heating up behind the mask.

 

He was going to kick Todd’s ass when he got back to the TARDIS, that lying liar, he did  _ not _ only know John’s father, ass.

 

Oh… Todd pressed up against him a little, making John let out a little sigh as the nice way that it rubbed them against each other, head dropping down low at the pleasure of it.

 

Okay, he can kick his ass another time, this felt too good.

 

Yeah, he’s screwed, in many, many ways. Entirely screwed.

 

***

 

When John finally joined the Doctor and the high priestess again, he was grateful for the mask this time, because he’s not sure how to meet anyone’s eyes right now.

 

Well, to be honest, this is actually a new one for him.

 

When he sat down at the long table they were eating at, he absently wondered if he’d have to wait till tomorrow to eat, since he can’t take the fucking mask off without going into shock.

 

“So… how are things?”

 

The Doctor gave him a look, much longer than his usual looks, and John had the feeling that he  _ knew _ what’s been going on -because he  _ always _ knows, and it’s really creepy to be honest- and finally sat back, both arms crossed. Yeah, he knew. “They’re going to help. I couldn’t give much information though. Your ankle okay?”

 

John glanced down at the ankle -which is easier said than done, because he had to tilt his head down a lot to get a proper view of it over the purifier.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

The Doctor nodded. “I’m sure. We’ll head back to the TARDIS in the morning. Eat now, then someone will show you to a room to sleep. I’m sure you’re knackered.”

 

John gave his dad a withering look, almost a sneer, not appreciating his  _ humor _ at the moment. He motioned to the mask on his face. “How am I gonna eat with this?”

 

The Doctor reached over and tapped a button on the side of the mask, and the mouth plate moved to the side, showing an odd blue force field in front of his mouth instead of steal. “It won’t stop anyone from shooting you, but I assume whoever designed the mask had the idea that it would be long term. You can eat through that.”

 

John blinked a few times at him, before sighing and looking to see what was at the table with them. He didn’t recognize much, but he cautiously piled his plate anyways, hoping the air on the planet was the only thing he’d be allergic to.

 

Of course, that would be too damn easy.

 

***

 

When the TARDIS door opened with a slight bang, Rodney and Radek could immediately hear the Doctor and John squabbling with each other while they tried to maneuver a plant the size of a block of marble into the TARDIS front doors.

 

Todd came out from the shadows where he’d been sulking for the past day and immediately went to help them. The three non humans on the ship managed to get the plant inside easily enough, and John stopped, leaning against one of the hand rails and off his left leg. It was mostly better now, but he sort of throbbed a little right now.

 

“You’re hurt… again.”

 

John looked back to see Rodney glaring at him for having the  _ gall _ to get hurt again -really, it only made Rodney’s day harder- and sighed, nodding. “Yeah, well, that’s not the only place that got hurt after we left.”

 

“And that makes me feel better, because?”

 

John shrugged. “It doesn’t, really. Just feel like being honest.”

 

He let the wraith lead him in towards one of the seats next to the console, and sat down, sighing as he finally got to take off the mask since yesterday.

 

He ended up looking the wraith right in the eyes, and immediately turned a fetching shade of red. The wraith smirked in reply, and John turned redder.

 

“Oh my god, I know that look, you fucked him, didn’t you?”

 

John glared over at Rodney, running his hands through his hair, thinking that he needed to take a shower now that he was out of the damn thing, and frowned at him. “I’m so glad you think that lowly of me, Rodney.”

 

Rodney crossed his arms. “That wasn’t a no.”

 

John glanced over at Radek -because it would be a  _ very _ bad thing if his sort-of boyfriend was upset at that- and found Radek biting down into his lower lip, trying to keep from laughing. Well, at least he didn’t seem sore about anything.

 

“John spent the whole night in his room, I don’t think they were playing board games… unless you’re into that sort of thing.” John glared over at his dad, wondering if he’d get in trouble for throwing the gas mask at him. Probably.

 

John took a half a minute to reply to any of them, getting up and stretching out, happy that he could finally feel air on his own skin for the first time in a day. “Well, to be fair, he came onto me first.”

 

He left the room without another word, not looking back at any of them. He just wanted a shower, and maybe for people to stop asking him things.

 

“Wait, what were his other injuries?”

 

The Doctor sighed. “He had an allergic reaction at dinner, and somehow managed to take the mask off while sleeping, so that’s two allergic reactions. Also, I think he got into a fight with a guard last night.”

 

“He did.”

 

They all looked back over at Todd, and the Doctor’s face twisted up a little. “Oh, now things have gone all wibbly wobbly, haven’t they? Do you remember that far back?”

 

Todd nodded. “A wraith always remembers the first time they meet their mate.”

 

Radek found John in his room less than an hour later, while the others worked on duplicating the plant.

 

It had been amazing to watch Todd feed on it. It really was sentient in a way, imitating human life as it saw it. Maybe that’s why the ancients had gotten rid of it, they saw wraith feeding on a plant that looked human, and assumed it was a threat.

 

Their own ignorance caused their own destruction. He didn’t feel bad for them anymore. The wraith had done bad things as well, and he’d hold that grudge for longer than he should, but the Doctor was right, violence only prolongs violence, it will never end unless you refuse to give in to it.

 

John’s room -he says it’s been his room since he was little- was all done up in a deep blue, lighter than the TARDIS. Radek couldn’t find any lights in the room, but it was never too dark to see, everything always lit as if by space itself. There was one bed on the ground floor of the room, and another in an alcove above the bathroom on the other side.

 

John was sitting on the bed on the ground floor, looking at something on his phone in between scrubbing the water out of his hair. Radek took a seat beside him on the bed, and let the other man lean into him.

 

“Your  _ mate _ is fed and working with your father in the synthesizer room.”

 

John paused, turning to look at him with wide -vulnerable- eyes. “You know I love you, right?”

 

Radek smiled a little; completely not bitter, and a little bit enamoured with him. “I know.”

 

John studied him for a few minutes. “You’re not upset?”

 

Radek shook his head. “Gods no. I’m fairly aromantic, John. I was always worried you’d leave me because I’m not… I don’t love like that. I love you-”

 

“But not the way I love you and Todd.”

 

“...yes.”

 

John leaned in and wrapped his arms around Radek in a hug. “I still love you, you idiot. If you don’t  _ want _ to be romantic with me, you really don’t have to.”

 

Radek shrugged. “Sometimes is fine, but I’ll never show the same passion towards it that Todd does.”

 

John pulled back with a smile, looking genuinely happy now. “Thank you. I really do love you… but something is different with Todd.”

 

“Soulmates.”

 

John was quiet for a minute. “Huh?”

 

Radek shrugged. “Soulmates are real. Your father and Clara-”

 

“But… you think me and Todd?”

 

Radek nodded, as if he was talking to a particularly slow child. “Yes.”

 

“Oh…”

 

John really didn’t want to get his hopes up, but that kind of made him feel all nice and stupid inside.

 

***

 

The hardest part was getting wraith to calm the fuck down long enough to talk to.

 

John literally ‘nope’d the fuck out of that one. He’s done, this is getting tiresome, he’s getting annoyed, he might actually shoot the next wraith that tries to eat him - in any way other than Todd might.

 

He slept for a full six hours while the others went to discuss with them.

 

At the very least, he knows that the Doctor would never let them attack Atlantis.

 

When he woke up, he wasn’t alone. He curled up between Todd and Radek, who both looked exhausted.

 

“How did things go?”

 

“The attacking hive ships at least agreed to go away if we gave them plants. Your dad has taken it upon himself to start spreading more of them around, because he knows we’ll never be fast enough to get everyone.”

 

John nodded, Todd was asleep. He got up between the two of them and started working off the bed. “I need to go talk to Rodney, don’t kill each other.”

 

“Rodney is back on Atlantis.”

 

John paused at the end of the bed, looking back at them. “Why?”

 

Radek shrugged. “We needed someone to go talk to Atlantis, you were sleeping.”

 

“...oh. I’m gonna go talk to Dad then.”

 

He tugged a cardigan on top of his tee shirt and left the room, padding down the hallway towards the console room in socks. The Doctor was there, but he wasn’t alone.

 

“Momma?”

 

The Mistress was there, talking with his dad, because of  _ course _ she was. She turned around with a smile and pulled John into a hug, making him melt against her a little. He loved getting to see his mom.

 

“Why does she always get a nicer welcome than I do.”

 

“Cause she doesn’t pester me about things.”

 

Missy pulled back from the hug and looked John in the eyes. “I heard that you met a wraith that you particularly like. I approve, his species is a formidable warrior race, he’ll make a good mate for you.”

 

John rolled his eyes. “Okay, never mind, you both pester.” He looked over at his dad. “How many more ships do we have to give the plant to?”

 

The Doctor shrugged. “A lot, I assume. Luckily, no one’s attacked us yet.”

 

“Small victories, I guess.”

 

***

 

It was another week before they made it back to Atlantis, and John was more than ready to be back home. The first thing he did after exiting the TARDIS was help Todd and the Doctor push out another one of the living plants into the gateroom, pulling it off to the side so it would be out of the way if anything happened. His dad was going to drop off another one in John’s room before he left.

 

“Colonel, you’re back.”

 

John looked up at Elizabeth with a raised eyebrow, and back over to the TARDIS. Elizabeth seemed much more relaxed now that they weren’t under fire.

 

“I said I would be.”

 

“Well, a lot’s happened since you left, I was wondering if we’d seen you again. No offence, but I know the Doctor’s track record. Who’s this?” She pointed at Todd, and they heard Rodney’s voice from across the room answering.

 

“That’s Sheppard’s new beau.”

 

John groaned and pointedly didn’t look at Elizabeth or answer Rodney.

 

“Well, at least you didn’t die.”

 

The Doctor let out an offended noise. “That’s a hell of a way to great a man bearing gifts.”

 

“Gifts?”

 

The Doctor walked back over to the TARDIS and grabbed a suitcase that was sitting in the front next to the door. “Yeah, I keep hearing you guys have been looking for some of these.”

 

Like clockwork, Rodney appeared next to Elizabeth’s elbow and took the suitcase before she could even try - which, since she knew him so well, she didn’t try. “Is that what I think it is? Oh my god, I’ve literally had wet dreams about this moment.”

 

“I told you he’d flip.”

 

Rodney opened up the lid of the case, and made a horrible moaning noise at the sight of three, fully charged ZPMs. “Oh my god, I’m in love, I’m literally so in love, I don’t even know who I should kiss for this.”

 

John frowned. “I think it’s best we stay friends, Rodney. I also have the original blueprints on how to charge the things if you want that?”

 

Rodney, -who had been in the middle of pressing a kiss to one of the ZPMs- looked up at John like he actually  _ might _ hump his leg if he was any less human, and made an even more horrible noise. “Yes!”

 

John nodded and went back to the TARDIS to get the blueprints now before Rodney attempted anything. 

 

“After you left, the Deadalus got into contact with us. They’re not very happy that we sent you off with the Doctor of all people, but when I filled them in, they couldn’t really complain. We’re gonna have a hell of a time convincing the brass not to open fire next time we see the wraith anyways.”

 

“Well, that’s fine, we sort of have the president on our side this time.”

 

Yup, things were looking up in Atlantis right now.

 

Good. They should stay that way.

**Author's Note:**

> gatersgonewild.tumblr.com
> 
> (Also, if any of you wanna know, the reason that Rodney got off the Doctor's ship so damn fast is cause he stop a sonic screwdriver and didn't want the Doctor to notice -as if, he never notices- and it's amazing.)
> 
> Gas mask: https://www.epicgames.com/unrealtournament/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=14786&stc=1


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